On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 1:31 PM, Steve Litt <[email protected]>wrote:
> A lot of you are able to instantly find LaTeX packages to solve random
> problems. I can't do that and want to learn how. I know of the
> existence of ctan.org just like everyone else, but there's something in
> my mental makeup that's different from yours, and I want to adopt your
> beliefs and your mindset in order to produce your results.
>
> I know to most of you this sounds trivial and self-explanatory, but to
> me it's anything but, so please tell me your beliefs, mindset and
> techniques as you search for a package to solve a specific problem.
>
All I can give on this is my own personal perspective, but it seems that is
what you are looking for, so here goes. First of all, I never look for a
specific package. I look for a solution to my specific problem. For
example, when I gave my masters' thesis to my graduate advisor to
proofread, he came back with several problems. One comment was, "Why did
you hyphenate that word? That word should never be hyphenated." So, I type
"latex no hyphen" or "lyx no hyphen" into a Google search. In this case,
when I sift through the search results, I learn that I can avoid
hyphenation in the entire document by using the hyphenation package with
the option 'none.' I also learn about \raggedright, and \sloppy. Then, I
find that I can use the command \hyphenation{doNotHyphenateThisWord}, and
I'm done.
As I go through search results I try the solutions proposed, and see what
effect they produce on my document. When I get something that works, I
stop. Sometimes I find that my question was not well posed, but in sifting
through the hits on the search results, I usually find a better way to ask
the question, and with a refined question I am set. This almost always
works. I used the logs from the lyx-users list for years before I finally
signed up.
When I go through this process, I am not only looking for the solution to
my problem, but also for a better understanding of the software I am
working with. For example, I started using LyX, and have eventually gained
a better understanding of TeX and LaTeX as well.
This is my general approach when I have any problem. Although according to
others, I should read the documentation first-thing when starting to use a
new program, well I don't. When I run into something I don't know how to do
I just search. More often than not I find the answer I am looking for. In
the somewhat unique case of LyX, responses to questions inevitably point to
a particular section in the documentation. In this case, I have turned to
the documentation, but only after learning that it is the most reliable and
up-to-date source of the information I seek. For example, the customization
manual does a great job documenting how to prepare your own template for
LyX. There is no other source that equals it in terms of quality and
coverage of information. I believe this is why searching for answers online
led to people citing a particular section of the manual. With other
software I have sometimes found the built-in documentation to be rather
worthless in that it is so difficult to use or scant in terms of
information that online searches are better.
Because this answer has turned into a ramble, I will try to cut it short. I
never search for a particular package, but for how others in a similar
situation have solved a particular problem. This sometimes leads to a
package, sometimes to TeX or LaTeX code that must be included in the
document, and sometimes to an option or a checkbox that should have been
checked or un-checked. As I search, I am looking for both short-term
solutions and a better understanding of the relevant mechanisms that will
help me apply the solution or prevent the need for a future search. This
understanding also helps me recognize the answer to my problem when I see
it. I hope this is the type of response you were looking for.
Jacob
